In the Pumpkin Patch
by Trish-Ah
Summary: Ginny has been visiting Hagrid and his Pumpkin patch since her first year at Hogwarts. She confides in him but in this particular time, Ginny finds herself talking to somebody else in the pumpkin patch.


**In the Pumpkin Patch**

_Written by Tricia_

Author's Note: I would like to thank Pooca, Alcarcalime, and Calliope for being three wonderful beta readers. If it wasn't for the three of them, this fic would probably be a complete disaster. The three of them have wonderful fics written as well and I recomend reading them.

Discalimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling only. The first part of this fic (in the italics) is found on pages 117 - 118 in _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets._ That bit has been written by J.K. Rowling as well.

- - -

_"Come an' see what I've bin grownin'," said Hagrid as Harry and Hermione finished the last of their tea._

_In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Harry had ever seen. Each was the size of a large boulder._

_"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily. "Fer the Halloween feast…should be big enough by then."_

_"What've you been feeding them?" said Harry._

_Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check that they were alone._

_"Well, I've bin givin' them - you know - a bit o' help -"_

_Harry noticed Hagrid's flowery pink umbrella leaning against the back wall of the cabin. Harry had had reason to believe before now that this umbrella was not all it looked; in fact, he had the strong impression that Hagrid's old school wand was concealed inside it. Hagrid wasn't supposed to use magic. He had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Harry had never found out why - any mention of the matter and Hagrid would clear his throat loudly and become mysteriously deaf until the subject was changed._

_"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" said Hermione, halfway between disapproval and amusement. "Well, you've done a good job on them."_

_"That's what yer little sister said," said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday." Hagrid looked sideways at Harry, his beard twitching. "Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Harry. "If yeh ask me, _she_ wouldn't say no ter a signed -"_

_"Oh, shut up." said Harry. Ron snorted with laughter and the ground sprayed with slugs._

_"Watch it!" Hagrid roared, pulling Ron away from his precious pumpkins._

- - -

The visits to Hagrid's pumpkin patch had started out as just a way to see the famous Harry Potter in Ginevra Weasley's first year. But throughout the years, Ginny had begun to visit Hagrid and his pumpkins as more of a tradition than anything else. She truly enjoyed her talks with Hagrid about the unicorns, hippogriffs, and other magical creatures. On one occasion, in her second year before Halloween, Ginny had gone down to help Hagrid with the pumpkins, and the two of them fell into a discussion about werewolves and actual wolves. He told her about the symptoms and Ginny soon found herself paying closer attention than ever to her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the remainder of that year. She had her suspicions that he was a werewolf; at the end of the year, she found out that indeed, he was. In her fourth year, Hagrid was missing for part of the year and Ginny took on the job of taking care of his pumpkins for him until he returned. Before long, Hagrid had confidence in Ginny as much as he did in Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He told her all about his half-brother, Grawp, and Ginny told Hagrid about her newfound friendship with Harry.

Ginny confided in Hagrid as another best friend, knowing he would help her out when she needed it. And at the moment, she needed to talk to him. Ginny was already in her fifth year and had grown quite strong. She was a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and had high marks in all of her classes. Her friendships with Harry, Hermione, and her brother Ron had only increased - but that wasn't what she needed to talk to Hagrid about.

After a long Quidditch game ending in a victory against Slytherin one cold Saturday afternoon, Ginny left the locker room fully dressed in her everyday clothes and headed out towards Hagrid's hut. The sun was up, but a chilly wind swept by and Ginny shivered. She tightened her cloak around her body and began to walk more quickly. It was mid-fall and cold rain was threatening to fall as the winter season grew near. Once Hagrid's hut came into view, Ginny broke into a run and knocked on the door as she caught her breath. There was loud barking from inside the hut and Hagrid's voice came booming out. "Back, Fang! Lousy dog..." The large, wooden door swung open and Ginny looked up at the large form of Hagrid.

Rubeus Hagrid was half-giant and one of the kindest men Ginny had ever known. He could have passed for Saint Nicholas if it wasn't for his black hair and eyes along with his dark tan. "Hello, Ginny!" Hagrid said with a grin as he looked down to find the small figure that had knocked. "Come on in." He took a step back to let Ginny in. She entered, thankful for the warmth, and took off her cloak. "I was jus' goin' ter make some tea. Would yeh like some?"

Ginny nodded and glanced around Hagrid's hut. Her eyes soon fell on someone sitting on the couch that she had not expected to find there.

"Oh - hi, Harry." stammered Ginny. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I? I can always come back..." she trailed off nervously and started to turn towards the door.

Harry shook his head, his messy black hair falling over his eyes. He pushed his hair back, moved over, and patted a spot beside him on the couch. "Hi, Ginny. Sit down."

Ginny placed her cloak next to Harry's on a hook near the door and sat down where Harry had indicated.

"Hagrid," Ginny said, looking at the back of him as he hovered over a stove. "You might want to place a heating spell on those pumpkins. It's getting cold outside."

Hagrid grunted his agreement, turned around, and handed Ginny a warm mug of tea.

"Thank you." Ginny smiled as she took the mug from him but she didn't drink it just yet. Instead, she held the warm cup within her hands, enjoying the heat that radiated off it. Hagrid started the fireplace before sitting down to face the two teens.

"That can wait till later, Ginny," Hagrid said, referring to the pumpkins. He took a plate from the table separating them and offered it to Ginny. "Treacle fudge?"

Ginny shook her head and took a sip of her tea. "No thanks, Hagrid. My stomach is still a little upset from the game."

Hagrid placed the plate down and nodded. "That was some game yeh two played," Hagrid said, sitting back. "It was lucky yeh caught the Snitch when yeh did, Harry. Amazin' dive."

"It was a close call," Harry agreed. "We still need to train our two new Chasers a bit more, though." Ginny elbowed him.

"Excuse me?"

"I meant our one new chaser." Harry grinned. "You did great, Ginny."

"Thanks," Ginny mumbled. She turned away from Harry's emerald green eyes and smile before taking a long sip of tea from her mug.

"Harry's right, Gin, yeh did." Hagrid agreed, smiling. "But I'm sure yeh didn' want ter talk about that. What have yeh bin up to?"

Ginny placed her mug down on a table and took a sideways glance at Harry. She wasn't sure if she could talk to Hagrid about Dean in front of Harry…but then again, she trusted Harry with her life, so why not let him in on what happened?

"Well, I didn't get the chance to see you since last night, but I had a row with Dean. We broke up."

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Harry said immediately, looking straight at her.

Ginny looked at him and knew he meant it. She nodded. "It's okay."

"What 'appened?" Hagrid asked, reaching out across the table and taking her small hand in his big one.

"Nothing big, really." Ginny shrugged but smiled up at Hagrid. "I promise. It was a good thing, really. I didn't fancy him much."

"Yeh deserve someone better, Gin." Hagrid patted her hand. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Thanks..." Ginny smiled at them both and stood. "I think I'll go work on the pumpkins, though. Care to join me, Hagrid? Harry?" Harry nodded and stood from his spot on the couch and placed his tea mug on the table.

"Sure."

"Er...no...don' think I will jus' today, Ginny. Got some business ter tend to in the forest there," Hagrid said.

Ginny just nodded. "Okay, Hagrid. I'll see you at dinner, then." Hagrid stood up and Ginny hugged him, though her ands reached hardly halfway around him. "Thanks."

"Bye, Ginny." Hagrid patted her back and she pulled away. "Be seein' yeh, Harry."

"Bye, Hagrid." Ginny and Harry headed out the back door and into the pumpkin patch. Hagrid chuckled and watched them for a few minutes before leaving for the forest.

"It's only jus' a matter o' time before the two o' them get a clue."

- - -

"You do this every week?" Harry asked while casting a Heating Charm over the last pumpkin.

Ginny nodded."I enjoy it." Harry nodded, placed his wand in his pocket, and took a seat on the ground. Ginny followed suit and sat down next to him. She brought her knees to her chest and began to pick at grass from the ground. They were silent for a few minutes before Harry finally spoke.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ginny stopped picking at grass and looked up at Harry with a confused look. "About Hagrid?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. Harry gave a small laugh and shook his head.

"No, I mean about Dean. That is, if you - don't mind..." he looked unsure for a moment.

"Oh." Ginny looked up at Hagrid's hut for a second before turning back to Harry and looking in his eyes. They looked so sincere just then. Ginny knew she could tell Harry pretty much anything; after all, he had confided in her about the Dark Lord and Sirius, but she wasn't sure if she could tell him about her love life. She assumed Harry trusted her as a friend and as Ron's sister. So if he knew about Dean, would he get mad or would he tell his best friend, Ron?

"Promise not to tell Ron? Or Hermione, at that?"

Harry nodded and she sighed, turning away from his green eyes.

"It's rather silly, I suppose." Ginny laughed a bit. "I mean, I never thought I'd like Dean the way I did."

"You mean, love him?" Harry asked, looking at her. Ginny didn't seem to notice the hurt in his voice and he was glad of it. Harry got to know her during the summer and learned to fall in love her. She was an amazing person, he had known it since the moment she smiled at him when he entered through the doors of Grimmauld Place and offered to help carry his trunk upstairs, as if nothing was wrong. And when Harry found out that she was indeed going out with Dean for sure during her fifth year and his sixth, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

To Harry's surprise, Ginny laughed and shook her head, her eyes bright. "No, no. I mean, I loved him as a friend, yes, but not as a boyfriend. But I did have strong feelings for him, if you get what I'm trying to say...it's complicated, I suppose."

Harry just nodded.

"Well, anyway ...last night Dean said he wanted to talk to me about..." She sighed and looked at Harry. "He's a jealous git, like Ron. Not that that was a bad thing, of course. But... really, Harry, it's silly, but he seemed to think…well...that you and I were...friends with benefits, I guess you can say." Ginny blushed and turned away from him and Harry began to cough.

Him and Ginny as more than friends? Sure, they took private walks together and well, they'd hugged a few times...but they certainly weren't shagging in the Astronomy tower. Not that he would mind being with Ginny up there...

_Get your mind out of the gutter, Potter._

"It... hurt. As funny as it is... it hurt. He didn't trust me. He seemed to think that you and I were 'looking at each other with hunger like we were each other's favorite Bertie Botts' Bean', or so he said." She looked back at Harry to see if she could see his reaction, but his face was looking forward. "I told him that nothing was going on and that what he was thinking was ridiculous." She sighed and looked down at her lap, trying to keep the hurt from showing in her voice. But failed miserably. "But he didn't believe me…and then he broke up with me. I've been rejected again and let me tell you, rejection hurts almost as bad as falling off a broom…though I guess you already know that."

"I... that's true, it does hurt. And I'm sorry you had to feel it." Harry said gently. He remember how rejection hurt, thinking of all the times he'd seen Ginny and Dean together and felt that twinge of resentment. Then again, she didn't know how he felt. He saw Ginny shiver in the cold air and quickly placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him for warmth. "Hagrid was right, you know. You deserve someone better than Dean. Someone better than Michael."

"The thing is, though…" Ginny sighed, laying her head on his shoulder and hugging her knees, "is that I shouldn't feel like this. I mean, Dean and I didn't love each other. I knew it wouldn't last because – because I loved someone else." Ginny felt Harry stiffen and then, after a few moments, relax, but when he spoke, his voice was a whisper and she knew that when he spoke like that, he was hurting.

"Then you should go for it, Gin. There's no reason why someone wouldn't love you." _And there's no one else who could love you more than I do,_ he thought.

Ginny brought her head off his shoulder and took his arm from around her shoulders. "Then why don't you?" she asked, her voice hoarse and shaky, barely believing what she was saying. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes and she was fighting the urge to get up and run away.

Harry was at a momentary loss for words. The only thing he could manage to say was, "I do."

Harry felt that the massive weight from his shoulders was lifted and he knew now that he could move himself. Harry moved so that he was facing Ginny and brought his hand to her face, bringing it up to meet his eyes. He tried hard to ignore the hurt look and held-back tears and took in a deep breath.

"I've loved you for a long time now, Ginny. You are beautiful, sweet, smart, strong...your smile lightens my day and just the mention of your name makes me smile, even if you're there or not." Harry stopped talking to see if she showed any reaction to what he said and smiled to himself as he saw the corner of her lips twitching. "You're always on my mind and it killed me to see you with Dean and it kills me now to see you in pain because of him. Ginny, I love you more than anything and it's harder than you can believe to hear you say you love someone else. If you do find someone who loves you, I can grant you that they won't love you as much as I do."

Ginny closed her eyes and brought a hand to her face to cover his. "Harry...what's your favorite Bertie Botts' Bean?"

Harry looked at her in disbelief. Here, he had poured out his heart to her and all she asked was his favorite flavor of candy.

"I don't know." Harry said, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Chocolate, I guess, why?"

"Because mine is green apple." Ginny pressed her lips next to Harry's. It was forceful at first, but soon softened. Harry sighed against her lips and began to kiss her back.

Ginny moaned softly as Harry licked her bottom lip for entrance and she allowed him to enter her mouth. Before she knew it, her back was on the ground and Harry was on top of her, running his hands through her hair and kissing her deeply. Ginny rolled Harry over and pinned him to the ground with her weight, never breaking contact. The two were so engrossed with their kissing that they broke apart in shock when they heard a door open and close. Ginny carefully climbed off Harry and sat up, straightening her clothes. Harry rolled away, sat up smoothing his own robes and they both heard a shatter within the house.

"Hagrid must be home..." she breathed and looked at Harry, a shy smile on her face.

Harry grinned back at her and stood up. He held out his hand and helped her to her feet. Instead of breaking apart when she had regained her footing, they interlaced their fingers with each others and began to walk back to Hagrid's hut to get their cloaks that they left inside. Once they placed them on and bid their good byes to Hagrid, the two headed back towards the castle.

"So..." Harry began, not quite sure where he was planning on going with this.

"Yeah, so..." Ginny also trailed off and looked up at Harry.

"Are we friends with benefits, now?" Harry asked, stopping.

Ginny smiled. "Well, I was hoping more along the line of boyfriend and girlfriend…friends with benefits sounds quite sordid." Harry grinned and pulled her in for a kiss.

"You know, I don't think I've enjoyed Hagrid's pumpkin patch as much I as I do now," Harry breathed as his lips left hers.

"So does that mean you'll join me whenever I go down there, then?"

Harry simply nodded and kissed her again. He turned to start walking again but Ginny's hand stopped him and pulled him towards her.

"And just for the record, Potter," Ginny told him, fighting a blush. "No one can love you more than I do."

And for the second time that day, the two found themselves engrossed in a kiss that told all that they needed to know.

**_Finished_**


End file.
